Reversible circuit timing controller



March 10, 1953 D. A. MARESCH 2,631,206

REVERSIBLE CIRCUIT TIMING CONTROLLER Filed March 25, 1949 Q 41 J! 4] w g @H /0 4/19 w m J4 fl/kzm Patented Mar. 10, 1953 OFFICE REVERSIBLE CIRCUIT TIMING CONTROLLER Daniel A. Maresch, Watertown, Mass.

Application March 25, 1949, Serial No. 83,349

2 Claims.

The subject matter of this invention is related generally to electric circuit controlling means operable automatically by a timing agency for either making or breaking a circuit in which an electrical appliance or instrument is connected. More particularly it is concerned with means by which elements of an electrical circuit, including a switch, can be readily connected with a source of current, an electrical apparatus to be operated by the current and control of the switch, and an ordinary alarm clock as the timing agency.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive but rugged and efficient system or combination of parts for the purpose indicated. A further object is to provide as a part of the circuit controlling element of such combination, a means by which the condition of the circuit can be reversed so that actuation by the timing agency will cause the circuit either to be completed or to be broken according to the will of the user. A further object is to enable the circuit controller of such a system to be easily connected physically with the winding system or" the alarm mechanism of an ordinary alarm clock for actuation thereby at times determined by the setting of the alarm. Still another object is to provide as a part of the combination a connector which serves as a plug for connection with a source of current, as a socket for reception of circuit terminals leading to an electrical apparatus or device, and as a connecting unit in a comprehensive circuit including the current source, the controlled electrical appliance, and the controller.

The invention comprises the complete combination of elements hereinafter described, adapted and operable to accomplish the foregoing objects, the several parts thereof as sub-combinations and novel elements, and all substantial equivalents of hereinafter described embodiments thereof.

This application is a continuation in part of my prior application filed October 11, 1946, Serial No. 702,710, entitled Changeable Time Adapter Switch, now abandoned.

In the drawings which accompany this specification,

Fig. l is a conventicnalized perspective view of a commercial spring operated alarm clock with a circuit controller and connector of the present invention operatively connected therewith.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the circuit controller of this invention with the casing in which the operating parts are contained represented as partly broken away and shown in section.

Figs. 3 and 4. are vertical sectional views taken on lines 33 and 4-4 respectively of Fig. 2.

Figs. 5 and 6 are cross sections taken on lines 55 and 66 on Fig. 2.

Fig. '7 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the reversing member of the circuit controller in a dilierent position from that in which it is shown by Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the circuitconnecter in connection with a diagram illustrating its rela-, tionship to the other elements of the combination and to a power source and controlled electrical appliance.

Like reference characters designate the same parts wherever they occur in all the figures.

As represented in Fig. 1 the encased circuit controller is designated by the reference character It], and the coupling element is designated H, being connected with the circuit controller by a cord I2 of any usual character including a pair of insulated conductors. The circuit controller Ill is mounted on the back of an alarm clock l3 by being mechanically coupled with the winding stem of the spring by which the bell striker mechanism of the clock is driven. The common spring driven alarm clocks, typified by the one shown conventionally in Fig. 1, have a winding stem for the alarm equipment projecting from the back, on which a key is mounted, usually by a screw threaded connection. The circuit controller of this invention is provided with means by which it may be connected to such winding stem in substitution for the key of the original equipment.

Referring to the detailed illustration of the circuit controller in Figs. 2 to 7, the operating parts are enclosed in a casing composed of a back plate or base M and a recessed cover [5 having a front wall and four side walls. A shaft I6 is rotatably mounted in bushings i! and: it, in the base and the front wall, which serve as bearings. Both ends of the shaft protrude from the casing. That end which protrudes from the base carries a coupler l9, detachably mounted thereon and secured by a setscrew 28, which is internally threaded to mesh with the threads of the alarm spring winding stem of the clock. Difierent couplers can be substituted for one another to fit the stems of different makes of clock, according as such stems are of different diameters, threaded right-hand or left-hand, or otherwise formed to mount a winding key. On the opposite protruding end of the shaft a key 2! is secured non-rotatively to serve as means for winding the alarm actuating spring of the clock when the circuit controller is connected with the winding stem of the clock. A snap-ring 22 is applied to the shaft I 6 in an encircling groove thereof close to the bushing l8; said ring cooperating with the coupler i9 to retain the shaft against endwise displacement.

A cam 23 is secured non-rotatively on the shaft :6 inside the casing. A switch lever 24 is mounted on a pivot 25 in the casing with one arm extending upwardly beside the cam 28 through a slot in the top wall of the casing. This switch lever is movable between the position in which it is represented by full lines in the drawings, wherein its upwardly extending arm bears against the cam, and the position shown by broken lines in Fig. 2, wherein it bears against the outer limiting wall of the slot through which it protrudes. A helical spring 26 is connected at one end to a pin 2'! on the lever and at its other end to an anchor pin 2'8 mounted in the base plate M in a location such that its line of force application extends at the right of the pivot 25 when the lever is in the full line position, and at the left of the pivot when the lever is in the broken line posiion. Thus the spring tends to hold the lever in either position and moves it with a rapid snap action to the broken line position when the cam 23, in rotating, has moved the lever beyond the dead center position.

The switch lever is made of insulating material (as is also the cam 23 and the casing) and has a second arm extending below the pivot the extremity of which is surrounded by a sleeve or ferrule 29 of brass or other electrically conduc tive metal. This ferrule at the side next to the base plate M bears against a strip 3%) of brass or the like which is set into a groove in the base plate, extends across the full width of the casing, and is made with a turned up lug M in which a screw 32 is mounted to serve as a binding post for one of the conductors, as 33, of the cord 52. In both extreme, and all intermediate, positions of the switch lever 24, the ferrule 29 bears on the conductive strip 30 and it rubs on the strip in shifting from one position to another.

A shift bar 34 is mounted in a guideway parallel to the strip 38, in the base plate M, and one of its ends protrudes from one of the side walls of the casing. A plate 3% of conductive metal is secured to the outer face of this bar and is formed with a lug 3'! which extends upwardly to a position beside the strip 36 but spaced outwardly away therefrom. The width of the space between lug 37 and strip 36 is slightly less than the front to rear width of the ferrule 29, and the lug is elastically resilient and its side edges are bent outward. Its arrangement is such that the end of the switch lever arm on which the ferrule is mounted can pass between the strip 39 and lug 3'7, making contact with both, or be moved away from the lug out of contact therewith.

Strip 36 is shorter than the width of the switch casing and is mounted on the bar 34 with one of its ends flush with the inner end of the bar. its opposite end is turned up as a short lug til arranged to bear on the side wall of the casing and limit outward movement of bar as. The location of lug 38 is so related to the contact lug 31 that the contact lug bears on the ferrule 29 when the stop lug is against the casing wall and the switch lever is in the full line position shown in Fig. 2. And the inner end of the bar 3% is at such a distance from the contact lug 37 in the opposite direction that the contact lug is brought to bear on the ferrule 29 when the bar is moved into the casing as far as it will go and the switch lever is in the broken line represented in Fig. 2.

This latter position of the reverse bar and contact lug is shown in Fig. 7.

A binding screw 39 is mounted in the switch base Hi below the reverse bar 34 and is arranged to receive the other conductor id, of the cord [2 and to hold a resilient conductive tongue or brush 4! in electrical connection with conductor it in forcible pressure contact with the conductive strip 36.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that, with the reverse bar 3 5 in the position of Fig. 2, a current path between the conductors 33 and 36 is established through the strip 30, ferrule 29, lug 37 and tongue ll, when the switch lever is in the full line position, and is interrupted when the switch lever occupies the broken line position; and that when the reverse bar is moved to the position shown in Fig. '7, the situation is reversed. Then the current path is established only when the switch lever is in the position corresponding to that shown by broken lines in Fig. 2.

The connector ii is represented as a plug of conventional type having terminal contact prongs 53 and G l adapted to be inserted into a door or wall outlet with which the wires of a current supply circuit are connected. The connector H also has socket or receptacle openings 15 and adapted to receive the terminal contacts or a plug which is connected with the electrical appliance to be controlled the controller pre viously described. Such an electrical appliance is conventionally indicated at l! in Fig. 8 as a lamp. me of the terminal contacts, as it, is in electrical connection with one of the conductors of the cord l2, for instance the conductor 33, and the terminal contact it is electrically connected with a conductive element in the socket or receptacle opening at. The other conductor of the cord i2 i connected with a conductive member in the socket opening Q5.

The connector H is here represented as a moulded block of insulating material in which the contact terminals t3 and id and the other described conductive elements are imbedded, and in which the socket openings ii? and 58 are moulded. This is a conventional representation which typifies all equivalent connectors which may be, constructed otherwise.

It will be apparent from Fig. 8 that, when the current path within the controller switch casing is completed in either of the ways described, the circuit is closed between the source of current and the electrical appliance; and the circuit is broken when the path within the controller casing is interrupted.

The system is put into condition for use by mounting the coupling 59 on the alarm winding stem of the clock and winding up the spring of the alarm mechanism by means of the key 2 When thus winding the spring, the shaft it is left so that the low part of cam 23 is beside the switch lever 2t, and that later is placed in the full line position. The alarm is set, by the setting means with which the clock is equipped, to operate at any selected time and, when it operates, the cam will displace the switch lever in the course of its first complete rotation. The eccentricity of the cam is great enough to move the switch lever to where the line of pull of the spring 26 is shifted to the opposite side of the pivot 25, so that the spring carries the switch lever with a snap-action to its opposite extreme position. Thus the circuit is either suddenly broken o suddenly completed according to the position of the reversing bar.

A wide variety of electrical appliances can be controlled by this system, such as a radio, electric light, a washing machine, an electric heater, and many others, and the controller can be caused either to start the electrical appliance in operation or to stop it at a prescribed time, according to the time setting of the alarm and the location of the reverse bar.

In this illustration, the casing which has been described as composed of a base and a cover completely encloses all parts of the circuit controller except the ends of the shaft and the parts applied thereto, one extremity of the switch lever, and one end of the contact carried bar. These parts of the casing may be connected by any suitable means, either detachably by screws, or permanently by an adhesive or by fusion. They may be made of any of the dielectric plastics commonly used for similar purposes, or of any other suitable material, provided that the internal electrically conductive contact members are suitably insulated from one another.

However, it is to be noted that the casing may be otherwise constructed and not wholly enclose the operative parts. Hence the term casing as used in this specification and in the following claims in not a term of limitation, but typifies and includes all suitable means by which the parts of the circuit controller may be supported and maintained in operative relation to one another.

What I claim is:

1. A circuit controller comprising a casing, a switching lever pivotally mounted in said casing with an end portion projecting out from the casing, said lever being rockable between two angular positions, a cam rotatively mounted within said casing and arranged when rotated in either direction to engage an edge portion of the lever so as to rock the lever, an electrically conductive member carried by said lever within said casing and arranged to be carried by rocking movement of the lever from one to another of two separated positions, a contact element mounted in the casing extending beside the path of movement of the said conductive member and being in contact therewith, a contact carrier mounted to move in parallel with said contact element, and a second contact element mounted on said carrier insulated and spaced apart from the first contact element, the conductive member on the switch lever being disposed to enter between and make contact with both of the contact elements when the switch lever is in one position and to be separated from the second-named contact element when in a different position, and the second contact element being shiftable by movement of said carrier so as to bear on the conductive member when the latter is in the last-named position.

2. A circuit controller as in claim 1, and a snap action device connected to said lever to hold the same yieldingly in either of its positions.

DANIEL A. MARESCH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,146,151 Garrett July 13, 1915 1,271,220 Quinn July 2, 1918 1,678,217 Gonsett July 24, 1928 1,776,600 Schneider Sept. 23, 1930 1,795,234 Rudler Mar. 3, 1931 1,829,514 Grossman Oct. 27, 1931 2,028,973 Fritzsch Jan. 28, 1936 2,092,678 Merryman Sept. 7. 1937 2,155,727 Madison Apr. 25, 1939 2,228,899 Viola Jan. 14, 1941 2,242,056 Crenshaw May 13, 1941 2,255,336 Seghers Sept. 9, 1941 2,267,813 Chirelstein Dec. 30, 1941 2,275,143 Hanks Mar. 3, 1942 2,454,887 schott Nov. 30, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 580,529 Germany July 12, 1933 

